Are you ready for some football?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:37 NIV)

I love most sports in their own season. I'm a baseball fan spring and summer. If the Yankees are playing well I'll extend that to the fall. I'm a basketball fan during the cold dark winter, but the Fall is a special time for football. Tonight starts the high school football season in Indiana and I can't wait. Over the next several weeks colleges will play and then the pros join the fun. It's a great time of excitement and anticipation.

I have coached many sports and enjoyed them all for a variety of reasons. But football is special. The shear number of players needed for this great game sets it apart from the rest. You have to have a great TEAM to be successful. A superstar is nice, but he can't do it in on his own. You also can't be successful with just one coach, you have to have a TEAM of coaches to handle the complexity of each play and each position. No other sport requires as much of a coordinated TEAM effort. From all levels of youth leagues up to the pros, the sport has to be played with toughness,dedication, and teamwork. Each play is practiced over and over again to assure the beauty exceeding even the finest ballet. Yes, football is special. When you are fortunate enough to have all the pieces come together, you feel the great joy of a conquering hero. When things don't go well, you mourn the loss, shed your grief, and work even harder to conquer the next foe. Every game is an intense battle with minor victories and minor defeats leading to the ultimate outcome. There is pain, joy, heartache and exhilaration in every moment of every play.

Football is just like life. A "perfect" life is an ultimate goal, just like the perfect game. You strive for that perfection knowing it is elusive. Life takes the great effort of an amazing team of coaches and fellow players. You must have a great team to survive this life. Your team must be led by an amazing coach in Jesus Christ, a great church family, accountability coaches, team mates from small groups, and the love of your own family. Your life will be full of battles, minor victories and minor defeats just like football. You will endure with the right game plan. You will lose some battles, but you have to get back up to fight again. You fight because you know the ultimate victory has already been won on the cross. You are guaranteed to be the conquering hero, if you join the right team.Yes, life and football are exciting and thrilling to the end. 

I can't wait for the first official kickoff. I can't wait to see the season unfold. Praise God for the joy of sport and the life lessons we learn through those sports. Praise God for the ultimate victory regardless of the outcome on the field! Amen!